


Dreams of Flying

by SundayZenith



Series: Fictober 2019 [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Fictober 2019, Gen, Likely OOC, Platonic Relationships, Spoilers, The Off Colors are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 08:04:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20888840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SundayZenith/pseuds/SundayZenith
Summary: Fictober Day TwoLars realizes how much he has in common with the Off Colors- Rhodonite especially.





	Dreams of Flying

**Author's Note:**

> Title is a reference to a Brian Crain some of the same name. I was listening to his music as I wrote this.
> 
> Fictober Day 2- “Just follow me, I know the area.”

Lars presses two fingers from his right hand into the back of the other, hard. He held them there for a moment, then watched the skin fade from an alien pale pink to something closer to bubblegum- something so pink, that even in these dark tunnels, anyone could see how saturated it was as if he were standing in broad daylight.

Not that he even knew what his new skin looked like in daylight, he realized with an uncomfortable start.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning- he could  _ feel _ the thought burying itself in the forefront of his brain, not likely to let up or let him think of anything else until it’s been satisfied, or another existential thought crawled up his spine and replaced it (and that’s if he was lucky).

“I need to get out of here,” was hardly a new thought- it feels so familiar, it might as well be like his father’s favorite shirt or the taste of a certain wonderful earthy desert that none of the other kids in his elementary school had even heard off and teased him over. It was a _constant_, barely worth taking note of as he let it take control of him- but it was overwhelming, especially given the fact that he can’t argue with it. It was _completely_ _justified and understandable_, and that made it loom over him in a crushing new way.

He leaned against the wall of the hole he was crouched in- it was pretty wide, but barely taller than Sadie, and he had bumped his head on it multiple times crawling in and out, but he had been attached to it ever since Padparadscha had stood by it and “predicted” that thousands of years ago another Off Color Gem has been emerged only to be shattered for her size.

While basically every other hole was unoccupied, the simple fact that no one would ever come home to this, and that he might not ever go home, made him want to occupy it. It felt  _ right _ .

“Uh, Lars?” Rhodonite’s face suddenly appeared at the hole’s opening. “Sorry, really sorry, I am, but are you still doing that human thing- sleep, right? Padparadscha said you just ‘woke up’”- she made a set of air quotes with one of her smaller arms- “so you- you probably woke up a while ago, then. Forget I asked.”

“It’s fine, Rhodonite. You uh,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “You wanna come in?”

He wanted to be a good person, but then again it’s not like he actively thought to himself, “ _ hm, how do I be the actual worst person I can be _ ” before he was effectively zombie-fied. Still, Steven would probably say something about progress being progress and he was making an effort and stuff like that, and Steven was the best person Lars could think of.

Rhodonite crawled in and proper herself against the wall opposite to him. She crossed two of her arms and tapped her knees with her other two.

“S-so,” she began. “So. What were you thinking about.”

Lars looked down at his own pink hand- alien to a human, but next to a Gem he hardly stood out. “I dunno. I want to show you guys the sun, I guess.” He felt slightly embarrassed by his answer, then told himself he had no reason to be.

Rhodonite groaned and seemed to collapse into herself- she buried her face in her knees, a hand in her hair, another clutching the hem of her outfit, one foot tapping rapidly to a beat he could barely follow.

He half reached out to her in slight panic, not sure what to do.

“You’re so brave,” she said, unhappily.

“Uh.”

“You’re  _ brave _ and I’m a  _ coward  _ and  _ I’m so sorry _ .”

“Hey,” he said, wondering what Steven would do in this situation. “I was a pretty dirty coward until recently myself, and it’s  _ kinda _ too soon to say if I’m not. Plus you’ve survived here longer than I’ve even been- around.” He alone said  _ alive _ , but he’s not sure that word even works anymore for him.

She pointed an accusing finger at his face. “Don’t- don’t encourage me,” she said. “Don’t make me feel like I can do things, only for me to remember that I can’t when it comes down to it.”

“...you want me to… discourage you? Why?”

“I- my Morganite- she was… important.”

Lars didn’t quite follow, but he braved resting a hand on her knee. “Okay?”

There was silence, then, “ _ I think I know a place we can get off this planet and maybe get a ship but we need someone who can’t be detected that’s why I didn’t say anything thing also if Morganite saw me she’d shatter us herself- _ “

“Hey, hey, breathe. If you need to breathe. Do you?”

She paused, and what she said finally hit Lars. “Wait, you know a way off here?”

“Don’t be mad, please don’t-“

“I’m not, really. I’m- I’m  _ happy- _ I don’t believe this-“ he was happy, he found. He was going to see the sun, he could apologize to Sadie and his parents and everyone, who could take a moment to appreciate the way sand felt.

He was going to show the Off Colors  _ everything _ .

“Don’t be,” Rhodonite cut in his thoughts. “I can’t help, I’m too scared, I don’t even know why I told you-“

“Hey,” he said, “I was pretty rotten before- ask anybody. You know why I found bravery in myself when I needed it?”

“ _ How _ ?”

“I didn’t. At first, at least. I-“ the thought of how he basically abandoned Sadie hurt. “I was just so  _ scared _ , you know?”

She nodded.

“The only reason I was able to, like, save you guys was because I wasn’t alone in being afraid. I’m still freaking out right now, in fact.”

“Really?”

“You have no idea. Look, we’ll be scared with you.”

She looked up and they stared at each other. Then she sighed in resignation, saying, “okay, let’s go tell the others. But you can’t get upset if we get caught.”

“We won’t be,” Lars promised. He moved his pink hand to her red arm and thought again how much he fit them- the Off Colors. He thought of something. “Hey.”

“What?”

“My friends and family’ll love you guys.” After all, they loved him.

“Alright, alright, you’ve convinced me. I’ll show you all the way.  _ Just follow me, I know the area _ . I’m confident in that.”

He crawled out the hole after her and bid it a silent goodbye, placing his pink hand on the gray wall before following Rhodonite to the rest of the Off Colors to form a complete plan.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: Sunshine-Zenith


End file.
